Wayward Birds In Warehouses

One of the more frustrating experiences for your commercial clients who work in warehouses, distribution centers and super marts is the “wayward bird event.” That is, a bird enters the building through an open door, becomes disoriented and persists in flying over people and product, causing concern for contamination problems. In most cases, the wayward bird is a sparrow, but it can also be a starling or pigeon. The methods of dealing with a wayward bird in commercial structures vary from the complex to the simple, from the logical to illogical and from safe to dangerous. Let’s examine some methods that work (and those that don’t) for managing wayward birds.

HARASSMENT WITH LIGHT. A simple approach worth trying before more time consuming efforts is to harass the bird out of a building at night using powerful bright, halogen bulb flashlights or handlamps. In the area of the bird’s activity, a bay door can be opened at night, the interior lights turned on and the bird harassed by focusing the light beam on the bird directly, while walking towards the bird in the direction you wish the bird to fly. Another person with a light and banging some pans together, walking from the other side will serve to harass and corral the bird towards the open door. Frightened birds often head for the cover of the dark, which in this case is the outside.

SHOOTING. Overall, shooting is perhaps the most common action people take against wayward birds in commercial accounts. When this is done correctly, shooting can be a very cost-effective approach, but it must be done very carefully. Several rules are important in wayward bird hunts inside buildings. These include:

(1) Safety first! Only people experienced in this specific type of activity should undertake the hunt. They will utilize the most appropriate model gun and shot (which match both safety and accuracy). A wayward bird hunt inside a building is not something either a part-time stock clerk or a pest management technician who “has hunted a time or two” should undertake. Such inexperience can result in shattered windows or walls, utility systems or valuable equipment being damaged.

(2) Use good equipment. Except for the most simple situations, high-powered pellet guns are typically used. Some experts use plastic pellets with aluminum tips in areas where breakage or damage is a concern.

(3) Determine the bird’s flight path and behavior. A pre-hunt watch and survey should be conducted to identify the best potential target zones based on the bird’s flight pattern coupled with the restrictions relative to safety within the account. To save time, someone within the account can do this prior to the hunt. Disoriented birds inside buildings usually prefer darkened corners and ceiling areas that afford them protection. In cases where the bird has been present for several days, inspecting the floor and walls for feces accumulations will help to reveal the bird’s high-activity areas.

(4) To avoid unfavorable public relations, hunt when the building is empty if possible. Night hunts are best conducted with the lights out. In these cases, night scopes on rifles are a great convenience and can save much time. Attempting a good shot with subdued lighting, or worse, with diluted flashlights, usually makes for spooked birds, making it difficult to get a clear shot.

(5) Lure the bird to a desired target area. Sometimes, the wayward bird can be lured to a protected out-of-the-way (and sight) target zone by placing enticing food (bird seed, crushed cookies and small pieces of french fries all work well) on the floor or nearby a preferred perching ledge, beam or platform. The marksman can be positioned nearby.

(6) Recover the carcass. In buildings where food is stored and contamination is a concern (i.e., food plant warehouses, food distribution centers, etc.) the hunt should not be considered successful until the bird carcass has been recovered.

TRAPPING. When shooting is not an option, wayward birds can also be trapped using glueboards. Upon determining the bird’s high-activity areas, rat-size glueboards can be taped flat to the floor, along beams and rafters, or to the top of some area the bird is alighting (e.g., top of a pallet, etc.). Cover the glue surface with cellophane and place some enticing foods as listed above on top of the cellophane, as well as a little around the glueboard trap. Once the bird becomes accustomed to feeding around and on the covered glue trap, remove the cellophane and leave some bait only in the center of the trap. Some professionals claim success even without the pre-baiting step. But be careful. If a bird escapes a “near-capture” on a glue trap, they will avoid the trap thereafter, prolonging the problem. In buildings with public activity (i.e. food marts, warehouse clubs, etc.), traps should only be installed in areas not visible to the public. If this is not possible, pallets can be arranged or cardboard walls can be constructed to prevent public viewing.

THISTLE NETS. Thistle nets (mist nets) are extremely fine nets that are placed across the flight paths of the birds in front of a dark background. The nets cannot be seen by the birds and they blunder into them, becoming tangled. Powerful flashlights can be used to herd the birds into the flight path containing the net. These nets require a considerable amount of time to set up, tend to and break down correctly. In addition, if the netting is not correctly installed, birds may simply bounce off the netting. Similar to bird hunts, thistle nets are best used by experienced professionals. Thus, the use of thistle nets is typically a last resort, or used in warehouses where the attempt is to remove a minor infestation of sparrows, as compared to a wayward bird or two. (They are also a good tool for capturing wayward bats that set off security alarms within large structures.) Thistle net suppliers can be located through your local pest control distributor.

INEFFECTIVE METHODS. When it comes to wayward birds, knowing what doesn’t work is as important as knowing what does. Much time can be (and is) wasted trying “hit and miss” methods to get birds out of buildings. Flashing revolving lights, ultrasonic machines, fake owls and snakes and scary-eye balloons at best may move sparrows and other birds temporarily from one area to another. However, city birds quickly adapt to all of these devices and pay them no heed after a day or so. Thus, hanging these devices over doorways or installing them in the rafters is not a recommended approach to managing the wayward sparrow.

Physical forms of removal such as swatting teams using brooms, rackets or large nets are not very practical unless the bird is contained in a small room with a low ceiling.

EXTERIOR BIRD PRESSURE AND CALLBACKS. Finally it must be stressed that the frequency of a wayward bird event in an account is usually related to the bird population existing immediately outside the premises. And this population will be related to the conditions around the perimeter of the building which are conducive to attracting birds to the site. For example, unless weeds and vegetation are managed, dumpsters are cleaned of spillage and the doors are kept closed as much as possible, an account will suffer the wayward bird inconvenience regularly throughout the year. With this in mind, pest management professionals should be very careful as to offering wayward bird services on a casual, “stop-by” basis. Most companies charge on a per-hour basis to remove wayward birds and they make this crystal clear during the initial sales contact with the client. Otherwise, wayward bird “courtesy calls” are merely expensive callbacks.

Dr. Robert Corrigan, a contributing editor to PCT magazine, is president of RMC Pest Management Consulting, 5114 Turner Road, Richmond IN 47374, 765/939-2829.